The Crissaegrim were a mountain range, forming a part of the southern Echoriath, the Encircling Mountains of Gondolin, and were inaccessible from the ground. However they were home to the great Eagles,[1] and from here Thorondor, Lord of the Eagles, watched for spies in the vale of the River Sirion. Indeed, the Eagles were the chief source of information to Turgon and the Gondolindrim.

It was from the Crissaegrim that Thorondor espied Húrin and Huor when they were lost in Dimbar. The Lord of the Eagles sent two great birds to carry the men above the Crissaegrim into Tumladen, when King Turgon of Gondolin welcomed them.[2]

In early versions of the Quenta Silmarillion, Tolkien used the name Gochressiel, which he amended to Crisaegrim (later spelt Crissaegrim). Christopher Tolkien has noted that the name Gochressiel might not have referred exclusively to this southern section of the mountains, but rather to the whole of Echoriath.[4]